In this patent application (2024-043481), Canon looks to improve the molded glass aspherical lens resin. According to Canon, the resins usually have a more difficult time with high humidity, as the optical performance changes with humidity. But if they create a resin that resists high humidity, then it has a more difficult time bonding to the glass element. So this patent application is looking at improving the composite resin elements in all environments. I could see this being used in our lenses, but also very much in security cameras that have to operate in all weather conditions. As Canon explains…
Author: Richard
It’s been a slow month patent application-wise, unless, as I told Craig earlier, I start to talk about printer patent applications. No one wants to do that – including yours truly. In this patent application (JP2024-042622), Canon talks about some Ultra-wide full-frame zooms. Now, this is one area of Canon’s lens portfolio that is pretty top-notch – so any lens in this patent application would have a difficult time justifying its purpose – but an F2.0 ultra-wide would certainly have its uses if coma was tightly controlled. All the embodiments are pretty decent with a full image circle even at…
In this patent application (2024-039230), Canon is looking at methods of cooling a hybrid speedlite capable of both continuous and flash lighting. As with most speedlites in the modern era, heat is the biggest problem facing speedlites. The flash tube that outputs the light usually runs quite hot; this heat must go somewhere. As we make more of our camera equipment waterproof, or water ingress proof – dealing with the heat is always a major challenge. Canon has patented several different cooling designs over the years, so that’s not what I found quite novel about this patent application. What I…
In this patent application (JP2024-039231), Canon discusses a new element composition, which is a resin element attached to a glass element to form a unique composite element. This element’s goal is to help reduce lens size and also decrease aberrations. They have included some very interesting embodiments including one that has reached near-mythical proportions in the Canon community – the 50mm F1.4. Dare to dream 50mm F1.4 fans. Since Peanuts is copyrighted until 2070 (really?), you’ll just have to imagine poor Charlie Brown once again trying to kick the football from Lucy. But it does actually look like a serious…
This article has been percolating in my mind for a while now, and as I got further into the various designs and Canon’s mentality, it became more of a synopsis of Canon’s methodology to date. The RF system has been very disruptive to Canon in terms of switching the mount and also the ergonomic design decisions. This article is a look at where Canon came from and where they seem to be heading. This article is long and fairly detailed, and I’ll warn you, it’s opinionated too. I originally wanted to split it up into multiple articles, but the Boss…
Canon without any announcement has added version 3 of the ST-E3-RT transmitter to Canon USA and other retailers. It is now available for pre-order from various shops including B&H Photovideo for $299.00 From Canon; The Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT (Ver.3) provides continued support of Canon camera’s that feature a standard hot shoe (not compatible with multi-function shoe equipped cameras). Many of the most popular features carry over to version 3, such as wireless rear curtain synchronization to capture ambient light trails and convey a sense of speed for moving subjects. An expansive minimum output range (down to 1/8192 power), and FE…
Phototrend, a French internet publication interviewed Canon’s executives. Canon said a lot on a wide-ranging bunch of subjects. I’m just going to report and let you come to your conclusions. Canon mentioned that they hold a 48% market share globally but stated that it’s impossible to determine what their full-frame market share is, and that the data doesn’t exist globally. Canon also mentioned that they are looking to expand their APS-C lens lineup. About third-party and RF lenses it sounds like Canon is specifically looking for third parties to fill lineup holes they have no interest in filling themselves, but…
This patent application (2024-025274) discusses how to automate the tilt movement given the objects that the user wants in focus, but more importantly when you want to tilt the plane of focus to something other than horizontal or vertical. I believe this is more commonly called swing. Canon is proposing setting the two focus points and the camera calculating the amount of tilt required to achieve both in focus. Canon seems to indicate that the camera will prompt you to select what type of image you want, for instance, normal or miniature (Diorama effect). The camera after you select the…
CIPA during CP+ issued what it believes the forecast will be for 2024. Absent any Canon future market outlook, CIPA’s estimate is the best we can get right now. CIPA is projecting a slight fall in volumes down to 5.89 million interchangeable lens cameras with compact cameras to no one’s surprise cratering even further to 88% of 2023’s volume to 1.52 million units. For Japan, CIPA is projecting an uptick to around 520,000 units of interchangeable lens cameras and 390,000 compact cameras, as with the other regions, down slightly from 2023 shipments. CIPA notes that the camera market is linked…
In this patent application (2024-025100), Canon describes the optical formulas of some pretty impressive zoom lenses. In this patent, we see the impressive Canon RF 24-105 F2.8L IS USM Z embodiment, and it’s just as impressive as the lens is in real life. So we know that at least one zoom in this patent application became a reality. But it’s the other zoom that is especially interesting to me in this embodiment. The 15-60mm would certainly have me selling a kidney to acquire it, as I can pretty much state that this is around 80% of my images are captured…